One Cold Knife
by Sapphire Zephlir
Summary: "Now, you want my story? Fine. I'll start with this: I was on top of the world. I must've gotten knocked off though because I fell, and I fell hard." Percy looks up, "Power corrupts people, and I was no exception."
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson series, the canon events, or the canon characters. All credits go to Rick Riordan.**

 **Chapter 1**

Was John stalking the man? No, he just wanted the truth... right? As John turned the corner, he felt little raindrops hitting his bowler hat. He looks up, _Gods, I hate this damn weather,_ was his first thought, his second was: where did the man in the black trench coat go?

John looked around and noticed for the first time that the street was deserted. Fortunately for him, the man was just crossing the street to go to a small but nice looking hotel. It was kind of hard to miss the man too as first of all, there was no one around and second, who doesn't notice a man carrying a _sniper rifle_ on his back?

As John shook his head he started jogging toward the building the man was headed into. He took careful note of the time on Big Ben to his left. _6:00 pm._

Going into the hotel that the other man went into, John immediately noticed that the lobby had the aesthetics of the inside of a Victorian Era castle. It was quaint, but had a homely feeling to it.

The lobby was decorated in the colors of black and red. Fancy couches and sitting chairs adorned the small room. To his left was a fireplace that was roaring and letting off the much needed heat for -3 degree weather. Above him was a small chandelier that let off a dim glow. There were some stairs leading up to the rooms that were only wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

Turning his head to the right, he looked at a cute female lobby receptionist with dark hair who looked at him with a smile. She was wearing a gothic dress in the same colors as the hotel. Deciding to be nice, he smiled back and gave a little wave. For some reason, the girl decided to purse her lips and look away. John frowned as he realized that something was wrong.

Then he felt what 1,200 psi crashing into a face felt like. John learned firsthand how hard a red carpeted floor could be when someone punches you straight into one. _I hate the color red_ , he decided.

"Ahh! Really!?" he asks his attacker in pain while holding his cheek. He looked up and to his disdain, it was the person he was sta-, ahem, following. John felt himself getting picked up by the neck and perceived a small steel knife at his throat. Looking at his attacker, the sniper on his back was looking _much_ more intimidating right now then when it was across the street.

He was able to get a better view of the person he was following now that he was closer. _A little too close for comfort._ His attacker looked like he was in his mid twenties, had dark messy hair with pale white skin. The most noteworthy feature however, were his startling, sea-green eyes. John also noted that he was rather muscular as the attacker's grip on his neck was starting to hurt.

"You've been stalking me since I got off the plane, who are you and what do you want?" the attacker asked in a surprisingly smooth voice. As John opened his mouth he felt the knife come closer into contact with his jugular. He looked down at the knife and then back up at the man's eyes.

As he looked closer realized the man was devoid of any mercy. He could, no.. would make John choke on his blood without batting an eyelash and John's body would be in a ditch in less than 3 hours. _Not surprising if he is who I think he is. His reputation is terrifying too._ John started talking, albeit, in a careful manner.

"I mean you no harm," he said in the most innocent voice he could muster, "I just want to talk."

"And why should I let you?" he asked in a hostile manner, although John felt the knife at his throat wasn't there with as much pressure.

"I know who you are," He said looking to his attacker's face, "Percy Jackson." _Mistake_ , he realized as the knife came back with twice the original force. "Please! Can we just talk? _I swear on the river styx, I mean you no harm_!" John was getting desperate at this point. His attacker grimaced. "I just want a chance to talk to you, a meal, and a temporary place to stay."

"Fine, I'll give you a chance to talk," the individual now identified as Percy said. Percy took his knife from John's throat as the man slumped to his knees in relief. Percy looked at the lobby receptionist who was just looking at them like nothing had happened. _Still smiling!_

John made up his mind right there to hate that receptionist.

"Cynthia, can you please get me and-" Percy looked at John with a questioning look.

"John," he replied.

"Me and John a cup of coffee?" Percy finished.

"Sure, be right back," Cynthia replied in a light voice as she started walking to a room next to the desk. Percy gestured to a group of armchairs and couches next to the fireplace. John took a seat and so did Percy. John was rather surprised at the 180 degree change Percy had made to his personality, suddenly becoming more hospitable in an instant.

"This is England, why coffee instead of tea?" John asked trying to make some small talk. Percy's face formed into either aggressive dislike or hatred.

"I hate tea," he simply said. "Now start talking," Percy spoke with a forceful tone. John took a deep breath and looked at his shoes.

"As you know, my name is John. I'm a son of Apollo and I've been looking for you an _extremely_ long time." John looked back up at Percy who was staring blankly into his intertwined hands which were in his lap.

"A son of Apollo, you don't see those often these days," Percy stated. "So what do you want?"

"Your story," John replied.

"My story?" Percy asked incredulously.

"Yes your story!" John started talking excitedly. "You started off as a hero but now you're a legend! There's not a single person that doesn't know one of your stories."

"Then what are you looking for?"

"But I want the truth." John said determined. Percy raised an eyebrow. "I want to know what really happened. Half the things you did were impossible and the other half were completely unheard of or taboo! I want to know how you killed _them._ " There was silence in the air for a moment.

"Get out," Percy said.

"What? But-"

"I'm sorry, did I stutter? I said get out!" he yelled.

"But Percy-"

"GET OUT!" Percy yelled pointing at the door, a look of rage across his face.

"Don't you want them to know?!" John yelled back. John realized three things could happen now:

he could be made to leave peacefully

he could get beaten up and then thrown out

he could leave… just without his heart beating

Deciding his best course of action was to keep talking, John said, "Everyone thinks you're a monster!" John then lowered his voice, "It's been seventy years, don't you want people to know the truth?" Percy lowered his hand. Cynthia, who had come back into the room with the coffee at some point, looked at Percy with pity.

"Fine." Percy said. John let out a sigh of relief. "You want a story? I'll give you one." Percy looked at the lone female in the room. "Cynthia, get John here a room, this will take a while." Percy sighed. Percy then looked at the poor son of Apollo. "Get settled and come back because I'm not going to rush this," Percy said. John nodded furiously and started heading upstairs.

 ***Line Break***

As John, Percy, and Cynthia were sitting by the fireplace, John gestured to Cynthia with the pen in his hand while balancing the notebook in his lap and said, "Should you tell her?"

"Heh, don't worry about that, I've known Cynthia for a _long_ time," Percy said. Cynthia flashed that _damn_ smile at John. (With a hint of smugness this time)

"First, you have to understand," Percy started, "That what I am about to tell you is the truth; I will not exaggerate. Secondly, that after the war, I was the happiest that I've ever been." Percy looked down sadly, "And after events went a little further south, I went a bit insane. For my standards at least."

John nodded as he began to write.

Percy took a deep breath, "Now, you want my story? Fine. I'll start with this: _I was on top of the world_. I must've gotten knocked off though because I fell, and I fell hard."

He looks up, "Power corrupts people, and I was no different."

 ***Line Break***

I had the best possible life for people like us. Making it to twenty was a huge milestone in my book, in any demigod's book actually.. I still went to camp obviously, although I visited Camp Jupiter from time to time. Anyway, let me give you the backstory.

Post rising of the Giants, we obviously got our rewards. Most of the seven were turned into gods as well as Nico and Reyna. The people that rejected it? Well, Leo was unfortunately presumed dead. Me and Annabeth(to my relief for some reason) were the ones who'd turned it down. But hey, when you go to Tartarus for someone and then come back, it's kind of hard not to stay with them. Especially when you trust them with your life.

After all that we've been through, Annabeth was all that I wanted. So what did I get from the gods? A favor to be named later. Smart if you asked me.

Then what happened you ask? Well, life went back to normal, or as normal as life for a demigod is. We had fights here and there with monsters and some disagreements with the Romans but other than that, life was favorable. Me and Annabeth had gotten so much closer together that I was contemplating proposing to her.

And I did.

With help from Nico, Jason, and Michael, (Annabeth's half-brother) I was able to set up a romantic picnic for me and Annabeth. It was at the shore of where me and her had shared our kiss after the siege on Olympus. The plan went flawlessly (for once) and to my delight, she said yes.

Things were really good then but they just got better.

The next day, a demigod showed up while I was on patrol. He was killing hell hounds desperately with blood dripping down his face. He was muscular and wearing tattered faded grey shirt and he looked like he was thirteen. All he had was a celestial bronze knife attached to a steel pipe with some rope, which I was surprised hadn't fallen apart yet. (I didn't judge his weapon though, you gotta do what you gotta do to stay alive in this gods forsaken world) Yeah, that was Kayden, my half-brother.

Being the hero I was, I raised the alarm that the Hephaestus cabin had installed a few months back and jumped down to help him fight off the hell hounds. As I took the cap off riptide and started slashing at the monsters. I noticed that he was sweating profusely and although he probably never had formal training with the makeshift spear, he was able to hold his own.

As he caught sight of me he said nothing and somehow, we ended up fighting back to back. It was like we were the perfect team and had trained our whole life to fight together. Me and him started killing the monsters like we were born to do it (which i guess we were) and pretty soon we were down to only 2 hell hounds left.

A hell hound lunged at me and I ducked letting Kayden (Although I didn't know who he was at the time) stab the monster with the spear. As I ducked, I twisted to my right and slashed my sword through another hell hound that was jumping to trying and get Kayden. As the monster dissipated into dust I stood and ended up leaning on Kayden for support as he did the same for me.

Chiron and the other campers came rushing to the top of the hill. As Chiron caught sight of us, he yelled, "My boy, are you alright?"

Ignoring him, I looked at the wounded demigod at my side.

"You okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he said in a low voice trying to catch his breath. Then he grinned at me, "Thanks, you saved my life. My name's Kayden Epimel, you?"

"My name's Percy, I'm a son of Poseidon" I replied. Before I could say more I was tackled by my fiancée in the form of a hug while the centaur was following her.

"Percy! Are you alright?" she asked in a worried voice.

"Still alive," I said with a smile on my face.

As Chiron galloped up to our small little group he asked, " And who might you be?" in a kind voice looking at Kayden. Kayden reintroduced himself and told us his story while we started walking back to camp.

He lived a normal life down in Florida. He had always known that he was a demigod as his mom had told him. Eventually, his scent grew to the point where he had to leave his mom. He flew to New York and from there he was chased by monsters until he got to camp. Pretty standard story except for the part where he knew he was a demigod.

"I would've been dead if it weren't for this guy right here," he said patting my shoulder. I was glad that I was given credit and we shared the first of many fist bumps.

"I'd be a sad hero if I couldn't rescue a single demigod from hell hounds," I said just a little arrogantly.

"Do you know who your godly parent in Kayden?" Chiron asked. Kayden gave a resounding no.

While we kept on walking, all the other campers started introducing themselves. It seemed that Kayden and the others got along great. I realized that Kayden was that type of guy that got along with everyone and honestly, I was happy for him.

In front of the Big House, a trident appeared on top off Kayden's head and there was silence from all the campers. Eventually, everyone got over their shock Chiron yelled the mandatory, "All hail Kayden Epimel, son of the sea god."

I looked at him, and he looked at me, and thus began our doomed friendship.

 **AN: So yeah, that was the first chapter. Anyway, R &R and tell me what you thought. The Pairing is still undecided so leave a review on who I should pair Percy with. It can be ****_anyone._** **To the people who noticed, yes, I did draw a little off of** ** _The Name of the Wind_** **by Patrick Rothfuss (Great book by the way, you should go read it) but this is pretty much all I'm going to get from it. Constructive criticism is welcome and thx for reading. :)**

 **-Sapphire Zephyr**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson series, the canon events, or the canon characters. All credits go to Rick Riordan.**

 **Chapter 2**

The months passed by in a comfortable bliss. Me and Kayden got together splendidly and the date to Annabeth's and my wedding drew closer. What else should you know? Hmm. Oh yes, as I was one of the senior campers, It fell to me to teach a few of the lessons. Most prominently, swordfighting. (Not like I was good at anything else at the time)

I quickly took charge as _the_ leader for Camp-Half Blood. I would tell you that I accepted it humbly or that I was forced to because no one would step up and it would be true… in the beginning. The truth was, after I had gotten a taste of everyone else listening to me, I was addicted to it.

I got my first taste of leading a large number of demigods when I led Camp-Half Blood against the forces of Kronos. Although I hate to admit it, I got used to others doing what I had told them to. People looked up to me and I started looking down on them.

Of course, I always helped them and tried to get them to reach their potential, but inside I thought, _they can never come close to me, I survived and led two wars. Before, they were lucky if they got claimed at all but now, they're all recognized by the time they reach thirteen. They are here because of_ _ **me.**_

It didn't help that they complimented me on whatever I was doing. "You're awesome at swordfighting Percy!" or "Thanks for the advice Percy," or "Your the greatest demigod to live!" didn't help me much in lowering my ego.

The worst part of it was that I kept up the act of being humble. I deliberately acted like a humanitarian who fought for their rights and demanded nothing in return. The truth was, I didn't _need_ anything. I had everything I wanted from camp followers that close to idolized me, to my best friends like Nico, the Stoll brothers, Kayden, and Annabeth.

You know what was even _worse_ than that? I didn't even know how inflated my ego was. I thought it was self-confidence. Sometimes, the line between the two are very _very_ thin.

I guess the only person who kept me grounded was Annabeth. With her, I always had someone to wake me up, give me a slap upside the head, and remind me that I was still just a demigod.

Gods, I miss those grey eyes.

 ***Line Break***

We were inside the Big House for a critical meeting. Me being me, had absolutely no idea what was going on. All the counselors (and a few other campers) were there along with Chiron. The gods were on Olympus having a meeting which they insisted could _not_ be interrupted under _any_ circumstance. I was surprised but glad to see my brother talking to Chiron with a serious look on his face. My brother had just returned from a solo quest.

I didn't know what it was, I was too busy preparing for the wedding. I didn't really feel guilty. I mean, I had seen him off. He looked rather well, _too_ well actually. His orange shirt didn't have a single tear in in and his face lacked any signs of weariness. And he was on a quest _solo!_ Not even I had managed to ever come back unscathed from a quest.

He looked over at me worriedly. He then said something to Chiron and they started walking toward the ping pong table.

"Everyone, if you could take your seats!" he yelled to gain everyone's attention. Everyone settled down and started listening.

"Hey Kayden, how'd the quest go?" Travis Stoll asked. The counselors muttered under their breaths what they thought was the reason for Kayden's state of body. I didn't bother to pay attention, I wanted to know how a fourteen year old had managed to pull off something i never managed to do.

"There were no monsters," Kayden stated. Everyone quieted down.

"What'd you say Punk?" Clarisse asked. She asked in calmly but anyone could tell she was in shock.

"There were no monsters," he repeated. "I went to retrieve the staff and I wasn't attacked once." By this time, we were all looking at Chiron for guidance.

"What's going on Chiron?" I asked. "Could it be something big again? Another prophecy maybe?" Although I thought that some more fame would be nice if I were in another prophecy, I loathed the idea of anyone of my friends dying.

"I've seen this before," Chiron says. (Sounding way too much like a doctor if you ask me) "The last time this happened, was after the Civil War." Some campers looked at Chiron with a million questions in their eyes. "In 1865, after the war, both the greeks and the romans were sent back to their respective sides of the country. Both of us were licking our wounds and were in hardly any condition to fight. While we were retreating and treating the sick and wounded, the monsters attacked us." Chiron took a deep breath. "There were many casualties on both sides and it's one of the few times that romans and greeks have worked together."

He looks at me, "Before Percy here helped semi-unite both of the camps." I smiled at him. Chiron's face changes to a grim look, "Right before we were attacked, there were a lack of monsters. It's like they were being coordinated."

"So what do we do?" Katie asks.

"The gods aren't here! Oh gods! What do we do?" Connor started to panic and his brother started trying to calm him down. The whole room starts going into frenzy and random demigods start suggesting solutions and what should be done.

"We need to get out of here," I interject amidst the hectic environment.

"Percy's right," Annabeth backs me up, "We shouldn't take the chance of staying in camp."

"But the camp borders, shouldn't they protect us?" the concerned Aphrodite counselor asks.

"If being alive this long without dying has taught me anything, it's that something is always going to go down to tip the favor toward the enemy," I say as calmly as I can. (I was just as scared as everyone else)

"We should listen to Percy, Chiron. I'm sure if we can make it to Olympus, the gods will grant us haven there temporarily," Annabeth suggests.

"We should contact Camp Jupiter to see if they're experiencing the same thing," my brother says. People started murmuring in agreement.

"Then it's decided," Chiron proclaims, "The course of action will be thus: Kayden will contact the other camp while everyone not a counselor will gather the other campers at the amphitheater. The counselors and I will choose a route to get to Olympus." Everyone nodded and started to carry out their tasks.

The counselors started to lean forward in their seats, acting serious and alert for once. Kind of hard not to when the lives of everyone you know could be in danger.

"Travis, Connor, can you two go scout the area around camp and see if there are any monsters?" I ask the brothers.

"Percy, I don't think that-" Chiron started.

"It's okay Chiron, nothing bad's going to happen. It's just scouting, besides, we trust Percy," Travis said with a smile on his face. Percy let out a look of gratitude across his face. Travis and Connor started heading out of the the tent. Chiron then looks at us with his eyebrows coming together, a thoughtful look was able to be seen on his face.

"You should go arm yourselves, counselors. I have a bad feeling about this," Chiron says. Someone starts to ask what route we're going to take but stops, seeing as how everyone was already leaving. Probably too deep in thought about the coming fight.

As we start to head out of the Big House, I hear Chiron softly mutter to himself, " _Someone's going to die today,"_

I paid it no mind. I wouldn't let any of my friends die. Least of all, the ones closest to me. I had been through 2 wars and most of my close friends, the ones that actually mattered to me, were still alive. I wouldn't let monsters take away anyone close to me.

I was the hero.

I was the savior of Olympus.

I was an arrogant fool.

 ***Line Break***

All the campers were at the amphitheater. One hundred and thirty confused and scared demigods that had no idea what was going on, were talking amongst themselves. There was a feeling of tension in the air and panic openly rang like a bell. Chiron was trying to get all the camper's attention.

"Demigods!" Chiron yelled.

"Whats going on?" shouted a camper back at Chiron.

"The camp is about to be attacked by monsters!" the centaur said grabbing everyone's attention and quieting them down. "The decision has been made to exit camp as quickly as possible and get to Olympus." Just then, the Stoll brothers came running back into the amphitheater. They were drenched in sweat and had a look of terror across their faces.

"Chiron, Percy," Travis panted out of breath, "Monsters, lots of them, waiting for us at the borders. We're completely surrounded!" Instead of the expected chaos of the campers there was complete silence. They were all thinking the same thing, _How are we supposed to get out? We're gonna die!_ Amidst the silence, one camper spoke out.

"What about the labyrinth?" all heads turned to look at Kayden. "I heard some older campers talking about an entrance in the middle of camp."

"That wouldn't work," I immediately countered. "The labyrinth died with Daedelus. It's not there anymore."

"But it's alive right?" Kayden said. "That means that it might've grown back since it was destroyed. Don't you think?" There were a few campers that started to nod their heads and agree with Kayden.

"That wouldn't work Kayden," I told him. "Even if the labyrinth was still here, going in would be suicide. Some of the corridors are so close together that you can't go in more than a single file could be massecered and you don't know what monsters might be in there." I looked pointedly at him, "And don't even get me on the possibility of getting lost."

"So what's your plan then?" he asked with a little hostility.

"We're surrounded by enemies on all sides, our best chance would be to just push through them and get to the other side." I say.

"What, that's an even worse plan!" one of the campers said. The others came in just as aggressively.

"I'm not going to go along with that plan!"

"Hell no! The labyrinth sounds so much better."

"I vote for Kayden's plan!"

"SILENCE!" Chiron yelled. The amphitheater quieted down once more.

"I think," Annabeth began, "That our best plan would be to march in a delta formation and get through the enemy forces as quick as we can." The whole camp pondered their choices. "The labyrinth would be a huge risk, and that's if it's even there." Connor turned to me.

"I'll stick with Percy," he says. "He's never led us wrong before and I'm not going to start doubting him now." There were a fair number of the senior campers agreeing with Connor.

"I'll go with him," Travis says sticking with his brother.

"I'll go too," Katie joins in. I look around for anyone else. Slowly, most of the campers that survived the siege of Olympus changed their mind and were willing to go with me. I look at Annabeth.

"You know I'll follow you wherever you go," she says softly with a smile. And that was all I needed. There was no doubt in my mind that I was doing the right thing.

"You're being stupid Prissy," Clarisse berates. "You'll never make it out alive. The labyrinth is our best bet now."

"Percy, you know she's right," my brother tries to convince me. Kayden had a look of pity on his face. _Pity_ for some reason. _Did he think I was a fool!?_

"Are you doubting _me_?" I ask incredulously. " _I_ led this camp through two wars! _I_ saved Olympus!" There were some people starting to give me strange looks. Chiron looked at me with question.

I lowered my voice, "Listen, you've only been at camp for not even a year," I say to Kayden. "Trust me when I say that our best course of action is charging out of the camp borders. Please, believe in me like you did in the past two wars." At this point, the camp was split in two. Well, maybe four-fifths and one-fifth. I looked at Chiron, "Chiron please, you know that this is the best plan! I'm trying to save them! Please talk some sense into them."

Chiron looked torn.

"Percy," he said in a soft voice. "I can't just let the new campers wander into the labyrinth alone." He gazed at the group of demigods that had arrived after the war with the Titans. Then he looked at us, the group that wanted to leave via the camp borders.

When I say looked at, I don't mean just looking. I mean he _looked_ at us. It's hard to describe what it felt like if you weren't there. It felt like his eyes were boring into our heads… our personalities, our hopes, our dreams. While he was looking at us though, we looked at him. I could see _pity_ in his eyes. _I don't want your pity,_ I thought with hostility toward the trainer of heroes "You and the senior campers are veteran warriors," he says finally looking around. "I see that I cannot change either of the two group's minds."

He looks at both groups with a sad look in his eyes, "Carry out the plan your group has made."

"Brother please!" Kayden begs. "I don't want you to die, your plan Will get you killed."

"I know what I'm doing," I reply to him.

"I'm trying to save you!" he yells.

I ignore him and he stopped trying to talk to me. He started organizing his own group of demigods. I look at the group that had accumulated and was now under _my_ leadership. Thirty veteran demigods that knew what they were doing (More or less) and a few younger demigods that wanted to actually _survive_. I looked at my brother, Kayden's group. I pondered how many would survive the brutal labyrinth.

"We should start moving," I say to my group of thirty. "Night's falling and we don't want the horde to get any bigger than it already is." The campers muttered their agreements and started heading toward the borders.

Annabeth came up to me and gave me a much needed hug. I wrapped my arms around her and took in her aroma. _Gods I love you,_ I thought. She looked up at me.

"We're going to get through this Percy," she reassured me.

With her at my side, I knew we could all get out alive.

With her, I could do the impossible. _Besides, Annabeth even supported me… right? So I can't be wrong._

Sometimes, I still blame her.

 ***Line Break***

As my group of demigods stood at the camp borders and looked down, we were frightened. There were a group of Laestrygones with a… it's hard to explain. It was sort of like a battering ram. They charged over and over into the border and it looked like it was taking a toll on the mystical barrier.

Annabeth was kind enough to form us into a delta with me at the head. I surveyed the battlefield. There were Laestrygones, Cyclopes, Sphinx, Daemons, Harpies, Hell Hounds, and a bunch of other monsters that I didn't care to remember. (Hey, could you blame me?)

I turned around to face the campers who were in formation.

"Alright, older demigods on the outside and the younger ones on the inside." I took a deep breath. "You guys ready?" No one talked but they nodded yes. "Remember guys, we don't have to beat them, we just have to get past them.

So with Annabeth on my right and Travis on my left I uncapped riptide and we charged through the woods. The most eerie thing about was that no one yelled, no one screamed. We were all deathly quiet. As we charged, on of the cyclopes yelled in glee, "Look! Our meal runs toward us!" There were excited cheers from the monsters.

I apologize if I can't express the next series of events with clarity. It's hard to remember what you did exactly when you're in a life and death situation.

So we met the horde of monsters straight on with me at the head. A cyclopes swung his club at me and I parried the blow returning with a slash across his chest. It was deep enough to kill him as he dissipated into dust. I don't know what the others were doing but it was probably close to what I myself was doing.

We kept on moving forward slowly. It was agonizing, we moved inch by inch. I parried a blow from daemon's knife and riposted catching her off guard and sending her back to Tartarus. I had no time to rest however as a hell hound immediately took her place. It leapt at me and I cleaved down on it's head with riptide. The hell hound disappeared.

Then I realized the mistake I had made. I thought that if we punched through the monsters we could get away scott free. What I didn't account for, were the monsters that had surrounded the camp to flock to our destination. I grimaced for a moment and let down my guard. A sphinx slammed into me and just like that our formation was broken. I was rocketed into the demigods behind me and our formation was decimated. I guess that where hell started.

The monsters took immediate advantage of our disarray and pounced on their prey. Us. Demigods started falling left and right. With our formation broken, it was every greek for himself. Campers were getting cut down left and right. It was terrible. People I _knew_ started dying.

I don't think you can comprehend what it's like to see someone _die._ To see their eyes loose the light that they had. To see dreams, hopes, and warmth be extinguished like a flame.

"PERCY!" yelled a voice behind me. I turned around to see a cyclopes swinging his club at me from my left and I was _frozen._ Years of combat experience and instinct left me as I just stood there. Then from out of nowhere, Travis jumped in front of me and parried the blow meant for me. Or at least, he tried to.

The club had broken the sword and continued in it's deadly arc. Travis Stoll's head was busted open in front of me. I could see pieces and bits of his brain inside his skull. Blinking, I realized that I had the son of Hermes' blood on me. It was red. Bright red. I looked at his eyes. One of them was hanging from the socket and I could tell that he was dead. Very dead.

"TRAVIS!" Connor yelled as he looked at his brother's corpse in disbelief. I turned my head toward the other twin ignoring the cyclopes. Connor started yelling in rage and charged toward the monster that had killed his brother. As Connor was charging a sphinx came up from behind him. I started to yell his name… to tell him to look behind.

"Con-!" Connor was dead almost as fast as his brother, his throat torn open. I started looking behind me wondering how I was still alive when there was a cyclopes attacking me.

What I saw still haunts my dreams. The cyclopes was chewing on a hand. I looked down at Travis's corpse and it was in _pieces_. I could clearly see the intestines inside which were being exposed to the forest air and there was even more blood on the ground.

"Meat is good for you," the cyclopes says gesturing to the torn up boy. "Want some?" he asked. Then he started laughing… a laugh that brought chills down my spine. I don't know how long the entire series of events took. It could've been seconds or hours, I couldn't tell.

I started running, looking for any other survivors. Demigods were still being cut down all around me. I saw a Katie Gardener get stabbed by a Daemon. She fell with a look of terror on her face. I saw another camper, a son of Apollo that I had fought with in the Titan War, yell how it was all my fault before he was decapitated by an axe wielding harpy.

 _My fault._ I realized. _I made a mistake and it cost me my family's lives._

I looked around in horror but was drawn back into the fold when another hell hound attacked me. I slashed at the monster and cut the underneath of it's stomach. Thinking it was dead, I looked around for Annabeth and started calling out her name, "Annabeth!"

"Percy!" she yelled back from somewhere. I twisted my head to where the voice was coming from. She was pointing to a gap created by the monsters. I started heading toward her when the hell hound that I thought was dead tackled me to the ground. The monster growled in my face and started slobbering on me.

This time I stabbed the creature and made sure it turned to dust before I got back up and looked around the battlefield. Eventually, my eyes made their way back to Annabeth. The gap was closing and I realized that although there were still some lone demigods fighting, they wouldn't last long, and if the demigods all banded together one last time, it would mean all of our deaths. I made an instant agonizing decision and started running toward Annabeth and the gap.

"You won't get away!" a harpy says with a smile for some reason while sweeping a sword at my throat. I just ducked under the killing blow and kept heading for my fiancée ignoring the creature altogether.

 _The wedding is going to be very empty,_ I thought in a moment of dark humor.

Fortunately, somehow… someway… maybe by the will of the Fates or some other higher entity, me and Annabeth made it out of the death trap I had lead 28 _victims_ into.

Me and Annabeth were leaning against each other walking away from the carnage we had just witnessed. We both had a grim look on our faces. Finally, I broke the silence.

"I killed them," I stated softly. She looked at me with an apologetic look.

"It wasn't your fault Percy, It was the best action we could've taken under the circumstances," Annabeth says trying to console me. "Besides, maybe if we had more campers, more people would've made it," she says in a bitter tone. She looked up at me and I started into those beautiful grey eyes. "At least we're together," she says.

"Yeah," I say, and we kept walking.

Then the unthinkable happened. As we were almost out of the woods, Annabeth stepped on a plate that moved down and started making a clicking sound. We both stopped moving and she smiled at me. I looked at those _damn_ grey eyes one more time before I realized what she was going to do. I tried to shout, "N-"

And she pushed me with as much strength she could muster in her state away from her. A huge column of greek fire erupted from the ground and I was thrown back at least five feet. I stood up and looked around for my fiancée in panic. "Annabeth?" I muttered in horror.

I looked for her and a few feet away from the mine was the girl I loved. I made my way to her body. "Annabeth…" I whimpered looking at the body. The leg that had stepped on the mine had been blown off. The skin all over her body was burnt off. She was practically unrecognizable. The smell of burnt flesh made it's way through the area and if I were more sound of mind I would've covered my nose. I reached for her and I tried to grasp her hand... when I did, her hand crumbled into dust.

"Annabeth?" I ask the corpse. "You'll be alright. Yeah, you're just sleeping right? RIGHT?!" There were no tear coming down my face. A thousand thoughts were running through my mind.

 _Annabeth?_

 _Why aren't I crying?_

 _She'll be alright._

 _Why aren't I crying?_

 _Right?_

 _She's okay._

 _Right?_

 _RIGHT?!_

 **AN: So yeah, that was the 2nd chapter. How was it? As always, R &R. The pairings still haven't been decided so leave a review on who you want it to be. (Annabeth is out obviously Oh, and can someone please draw a cover image for this story? I'd really appreciate it. ) Anyway, Thx for reading. :)**

 _ **-Sapphire Zephyr**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: All right of the series go to Rich Riordan. All I own is the plot.**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Intermission**

Percy was silent for a moment. John and Cynthia were looking at him with Pity. John saw that Percy was going to take a while to restart the story so he put the pen in the notebook and closed it.

John took a moment realize the awkward silence in the air. He didn't know if he should say something or wait until Percy started talking again. Looking up from his lap, John turned his attention to Percy who was twiddling his thumbs while leaning forward in his seat.

Finally, after a long moment, Percy sat straight up and picked up his glass of coffee from a small table to his left. He took a long sip of the bitter drink and then looked at John.

"So what do you think?" Percy asked John.

"It's not up to me to comment on anything you say. I'm just writing it down.," John replied.

"That's not what I was asking," Percy said in a stern voice. "What do you think you would do in my situation?"

"Hmm," John pondered the question for a bit. "I think that I'd go to wherever I would be safe." John looked at Percy, "You know, to my family or Olympus even."

"That's probably what I would've done too, if I were in the right mind," Percy said. "But I wasn't. My head was all messed up."

John hunched over his notebook and opened it. Sensing that Percy was about to start narrating his story again, John picked up his pen and put the tip to the paper. He looked up at Percy and nodded.

"Well as I said before, my head was messed up… sleeping, if you will. It took a wake up call from a certain entity to get my mind running again."

 ***Line Break***

At this point, my mind was broken. Could you blame me? I saw all of my closest friends and the love of my life die in front of my eyes. I was as close to insane as you could get without going over the edge.

I don't know how long I kneeled over Annabeth's corpse. It could've been a few minutes or it could've been hours. I had no idea of the passing time and I only looked up when I felt something soft hitting the top of my head.

 _Snow,_ I realized. If I didn't keep moving, I'd freeze to death. _I don't want to go,_ I thought, _I want to stay with her._ But some primal instinct in the back of my mind told me, _She's gone, you have to keep moving._

I stood up and I looked around. I was till in the woods but I could hear cars driving by the forest a few hundred feet away from where I was. So leaving the empty shell of the love of my life in the woods, I began heading for the noise of civilization.

As I walked, I realized I had no idea what to do. My whole life had just been destroyed in front of me. I started contemplating suicide but I knew I couldn't do it.

 _Annabeth pushed you away so that you could keep living,_ I said to myself. _Don't dishonor her by throwing away your life._

The more steps I took the more I began to feel guilty for just thinking about Annabeth. _I led about thirty campers to their deaths,_ I said to myself. _And all I can think about is Annabeth?_ I had led people that had trusted me with their lives into a massacre, and I hadn't even thought about them yet.

 _I'm a monster,_ I said to myself. But a voice from the deepest parts of my mind denied me to even think of myself like that. _You wish,_ it said, _then at least you would have an excuse to have murdered them._ I shivered. _In fact,_ it continued, _you might as well have just slit their throats yourself. It would've been faster at least._

I tried to ignore it and I started following the road when I got to the concrete. _You were arrogant,_ the voice told me. I stopped. A car that was driving down the road in the middle of the night honked its horn at me and swerved to avoid hitting me. I paid it no mind.

 _You should've died with them_ , the voice said.

"SHUT UP!" I yelled clutching my head. "Shutupstupshutupshutup!"

 _Murderer,_ It told me.

"STOP IT!" I yelled once more as I fell onto my knees. I barely registered the hard concrete road I had just fallen onto.

Just when I thought the voice would keep calling, my head grew silent. I crawled over to the side of the road and hugged my knees to my chest; trying to preserve as much heat as possible. It was winter, I remembered, and wearing just some jeans and a t-shirt was not healthy in this type of weather where it was snowing. Nevertheless, I refused to move and huddled closer to myself… shivering.

 _Look at the hero of Olympus now,_ a voice said; it wasn't _the_ voice, it was my own.

 ***Line Break***

The sun peaked over the trees waking me from my blissful ignorance. I squinted my eyes and started pushing my body off of the ground. I was surprised that no one pulled over to check on me. I felt the asphalt beneath my hands and I saw red on them. I thought it was my own, chaffed from the contact with the side of the road, but it wasn't. I couldn't go to Olympus like this. Actually, I couldn't go anywhere like this.

But why would I go on? I just led almost everyone I knew into a death trap. For a while, I contemplated suicide, but remembering Annabeth's face… I knew I couldn't. _Even if I deserve to,_ I thought.

 _Where would I go?_ I thought. I didn't know, but I was hungry. Like any other animal would, I started going toward where one would find food. Some part of my mind still knew, I could find food if I headed toward the city.

I got up off the ground and started walking.

 ***Line Break***

I don't know how the cars I passed didn't pull over when they saw the blood on me. It was probably the mist. At the moment, I didn't know and I didn't care.

 _Annabeth would know_ , I thought to myself. I clutched my head as an image of her body ran through my mind.

I kept walking.

 ***Line Break***

I don't know how long I walked. Long enough for my feet to get tired and the hunger in my stomach to triple.

Eventually, I found myself looking at barns and fields of produce. Then small building and stores. Finally I could see skyscrapers in the distance. Home was close and I probably could've gone to my mother if I kept walking. If my mind was working.

The sun was starting to set and I needed shelter. _Was this the first time the sun has set?_ I thought.

I kept walking.

 ***Line Break***

I found myself between the buildings of a factory. Or, what used to be a factory. I was still hungry. I tried to get some food from a restaurant some time ago but they wouldn't serve me. Something about having no money.

I looked up at the towering walls that I was sandwiched between. The walls were dark and so was the sky. I was barely able to see in front of myself.

I got _mad._ They dared not to give _me_ food? After I had saved them all? After I had sacrificed so much for them! I kicked the trashcan to my left out of anger letting out a frustrated growl.

I kept walking.

 ***Line Break***

I was lost. In this factory that I had wandered into there was nothing useful. Nothing to eat. As I was starting to loose hope of ever quenching my hunger, I saw a distant orange light. I walked toward it and it turned out to be my salvation. There was a man sitting next to the fire, warming his hands over the flames. As I made myself visible to him, he didn't panic and leave. Nor did he tell me to get out as I thought he might. Instead, he made room for me on the little brown bench that he was sitting on. I sat next to him without saying a word.

The flame illuminated the slate grey pipes that ran along the ceiling into machines (of which I had no idea what their function was). The heat that was generated by the flame in the trash can gave little warmth to my freezing hands. _It's better than nothing,_ I thought. I turned to the stranger in order to thank him but was surprised with the voice that came out of my mouth.

"T-th-thank you," I managed to stutter out. Instead of answering me, the stranger turned to his left and bent down grabbing something from a dark bag and turned upward to meet his eyes with mine. He had white hair, a scruffy beard, and an ensemble that screamed, "homeless!"

I turned out that the man was offering me a bottle of water. I accepted it and took it from his hands, unscrewing the cap and gulping the water down. As I was finishing gulping down the water, the man turned again and took out another item from his bag. This time, it was a granola bar. He offered it to me and I lunged for it, ripping the wrapper open and stuffing the whole thing in my mouth. In hindsight, I must have looked like a dog.

The man made no other motion and kept staring into the flames. After a moment of studying him, I did the same. None of us made an effort to communicate with the other.

I fell asleep like that. Just staring into the fire. The voice whispering into my mind, _murderer,_ over and over again.

 ***Line Break***

When I woke up, the man was gone. I was saddened by his departure realizing that I would probably never see him again. _I wonder if he had any family_.

I got up off the bench and tried to think clearly.

 _My mother_ , I realized. I could go to my mother.

Excitedly I started walking with a spring in my step. Maybe with mom's help I can figure out what to do. Every other thought abandoned me as I thought about how worried my mom must be. She hadn't heard from me in ages. I had been living at Camp Half-Blood full time and I promised to send her a letter every week. I had missed this weeks, I realized.

I promptly forgot about everyone I had caused to die. How could I, you ask? Well, the human mind works in strange ways, and we are creatures that will do whatever we can to avoid pain. I guess my mother was the excuse I needed to keep my mind away from…unsavory things. The thought of going to Olympus never crossed my mind again. I was fixated on one thing and one thing only, of seeing my mother.

I kept walking.

 ***Line Break***

My mother's apartment was closer than I thought it would be to the factory. It didn't matter to me though. I was just glad I wasn't attacked while I was walking there.

I walked up the stairs of the plain building, the thought of seeing mom again made me feel some kind of joy, at least the most amount of joy I could find with the current state I was in. I reached under the doormat where the spare key was kept and raced into the living room after unlocking the door with a light in my eyes.

The brightly painted room had sunlight pouring into it. The T.V. was left running on a news channel. There were a pile of letters on the coffee table along with a cup of coffee that looked like it was cold. My mom's body was hanging from the ceiling with a noose around her neck.

 _Thirty,_ the voice whispered.

 **AN: As you could hopefully tell, this was more of a transition chapter. Things will start to pick up from the next one.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **All characters belong to Rick Riordan. I just own the Plot... and Cynthia.**

 **Intermission**

"Wait," John interjected, "I thought your mother was murdered. That's how the story goes on Olympusーor at least, what's left of it."

Percy looked up in annoyance, his legs were tense as if they were about to spring up. "I'm sorry," John apologized. "I'm sure this must be a touchy subject for you." Percy shook his head as if it would help to release him from the bad memory.

"It's all in the past now," he turned his gaze to the fireplace, "lifetimes ago."

"Either way, I shouldn't have interrupted. It is your story to tell." John replied shifting uncomfortably. His face strangely started to ache again. Percy sighed.

"Before we get back, I would like to tell you that I am telling you the events that happened from my perspective back then, not now, at least, to the best of my abilities." Percy's legs unclenched and he moved back into a more comfortable position. "The next period of time contain decisions that shaped who I am. Perhaps if I had chosen differently back then, I would have had a better life, and who knows? Maybe the world could've been a kinder place."

 ***Line Break***

I was glued to the spot. I couldn't breathe. Actually, I think I may have forgotten how to breath for a few moments. The only thing I could see was the sunlight still shining on my mom's face, teasing at how kind of a person she was. I closed my eyes. The image still persisted so in order to escape from the image in my mind, I opened my eyes again. This time instead of her back facing towards me, I found that her body had swung around so that I could see her face.

It looked like she was crying when she died. I felt sick. I staggered over to the bathroom, my head was spinning, but I never once closed my eyes. I fell over the toilet bowl and started throwing up. I don't know how many times or when I stopped, I just know that by the time I was done, I could taste stomach acid in my mouth.

I didn't bother to question the facts. I didn't look at the body and determine what had caused her to do this. I had just assumed that it was my fault. In the past few day, my entire world had come crashing down on me. For some reason, the voice was silent.

I got up and started making my way out of the apartment. As I walked through the door, I took one last corpse of what used to be my mother. This time, her back was facing me again and all I could see was her hair.

I took off at a dead sprint from the apartment. You'll find that often in stories, that the protagonist never looks back when leaving something behind. I kept looking back as I ran. And I kept running. Foot after foot after foot. Step after step after step. I just kept running.

As I ran, I tried to remember her sunlit face. To this day, I still can't remember her face. But I can remember one thing very well, there was not a single drop of water on my face that day.

 ***Line Break***

Eventually, I came to the bad part of town. I don't remember it's name right now, and it doesn't matter. It's probably a pile of rubble now anyway. I do remember that it was by the docks though.

It was old and the bricks of the buildings looked as if they were about to collapse at a glance. All the buildings were connected by roads in a grid-like layout. I learned the ins and outs of that town. The parts where I could go to beg for food. The places where… yes I had to beg for food, but what else could I do? No respectable company or store would hire me in the state that I was in. Besides, what would I put in my application? Savior of Olympus?

Anyway, I learned the places where to get food, when the ships would unload their goods, (There was always a possibility of them dropping something useful) how to steal in the most efficient ways, the fastest ways to get away when being chased, and most importantly, that the person I had the foremost duty to was _me._ There would be no one to look out for me, and I had to put myself ahead of everyone else. I remember that I had shelter in a wooden crate near the docks. The air was always polluted by the smog that the factories and ships emitted. That little home of mine constituted my whole life. Not once did the thought cross my mind that I could jump into the ocean and interact with my dad.

Life is constituted of many major events and buffers between those events. As such, most people won't remember these buffers and just sum it up in general statements that encompass the whole of the buffer. In short, that town taught me how to survive.

The town I was in wasn't a place where there were gangs and groups. Never one that thrived, at least. The resources that went around in that were so few that the groups that were formed couldn't distribute them equally or fairly. These groups either died out or succumbed to anarchy. It was every man for himself in short.

 ***Line Break***

It was winter, and food was scarce. I couldn't remember how many bodies I had passed by just today. All I knew was that it was Sunday so the people coming out from church would be a little more charitable. As I sat by the church after services had ended, I grew a little hopeful as a group of children and their parents approached me. I sat next to a bench and asked in the most pitiful voice I could muster, "Could you spare some food sir, or some money? It would mean a lot to me." Although it wasn't snowing, the ground was cold and I was longing to sit on the bench. I retrained myself on the basis that sitting on the ground would make me look worse and somehow, they would give more. The reply that one of the children gave me sent a chill through my spine.

"Mister, you're like 20, why don't you just get a job?" a little girl told me, no more than 12. "People like you are just a burden to society, they never contribute or help anyone!" I lunged forward and grabbed her by the neck. Her parents and the other families stared at the act before rushing to take action.

"YOU LITTLE BITCH! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I'VE DONE FOR YOU? FOR THE WORLD? I LOST EVERYTHING SAVING YOU LITTLE PIECES OF SHIT AND THIS IS THE TREATMENT YOU GIVE ME?" I screamed out. The adults had pried me off of the girl by the time I had finished my rant. I lunged forward again but one of the adults, the dad, I assume, kicked me straight below my lungs. I lost my breath and started gasping for air. The other families threw me disgusted looks. The children were afraid of me. As I looked back at the girl, I saw she had red marks around her neck. Some people were trying to comfort her. The person who had kicked me turned to talk reassuring words to the little girl before turning back to me.

"Get the hell out of here you bastard! No one wants you here, least of all and asshole that attacks little girls!" Now leave or I'll call the cops" he said. That was an empty threat. The cops never did anything in this town. I got up and started walking away from the church taking a back alley that led to a street that was always empty.

As I walked, the voice came back. It hadn't spoken to me for some time. _I see you are as despicable as ever_ , it said. _Hurting little girls now, are we?_

 _Shut up, she had no right to talk to me that way,_ I fired back at it.

 _I'm amazed you held out for a year before snapping,_ it said.

 _A year? It's still winter._ The voice remained silent for a while.

 _Yes, and the seasons have cycled back._ I stopped in my tracks. It hadn't been a whole _year_ , had it?

 _And if you hadn't had the shit knocked out of you?_ It asked. _Would you have killed it?_ The voice referred to the girl as it. I questioned it about its labeling. _Don't you know?_ I could feel it smirking. _I'm you,_ it said as if it were the most hilarious thing in the world. It began to laugh soon after.

A chilling, horrifying, insane laugh.

 ***Line Break***

I was still in that alleyway by the time the sun set. I hadn't moved from that spot. It wasn't that I was deep in thought, I just stood there. The voice had left me alone after that final statement and I tried to take solace in that. I tried to take in everything that had happened that day. I had strangled a girl. A little girl. It had been a year since I killed thirty people. _It could've been thirty-one_ , I thought to myself.

Before I could reflect on my actions anymore a man staggered up to me. Surprising as not many people knew of this alley. His breath reeked of alcohol and I could smell it from five feet away. It was stronger than the smell of the the trash behind me. I was a little jealous, alcohol was hard to come by in these parts and I knew people that would kill to alleviate their suffering for a while. The moonlight clearly illuminated the face of the man as well as the pale red bricks to either side of the alley. The man pointed at me with bony fingers.

"Y-yer watch," he stuttered. I looked down at the item in question on my wrist. I cursed myself for leaving it in such a noticeable place. It was a rolex, a gold one in fact. I found it at the docks. Maybe it was luck or something but it was just there, on the concrete, waiting for someone to take it. It was probably lost by a worker or a shipment of something. I didn't care. It was mine now. I was planning to sell it for cash, I could live for a while on its funds.

"I'm sorry, this is mine," I told the man. The drunkard took a tense step forward and I took a step back. Then he lunged forward with the speed of a demigod and wrapped his hands around my neck.

The force of his attack pushed me on my back and I struggled to breathe. My mind wandered back to the events of the morning. _Oh the irony_. As soon as what was happening registered in my mind, panic settled in. I started squirming and trying whatever I could to get out of his death grip. The fact that I was going to be one of the corpses that I used to pass had me fighting like an animal to survive. I kept looking for ways to escape.

When it became apparent that the man was stronger than me and forcing his grip off my neck was out of the question, I started to wave my arms around my body searching for anything I could use as a weapon. By some miracle my right hand wrapped around a piece of wood from the overflowing trash to my right.

Wasting no time, I swung my arm as hard as I could into the man's head. He stopped applying pressure but was still on me. However, the decrease of stress on my neck was all I needed to throw him off of my malnourished body. He and I both stood up.

He lunged at me again and without a second thought I swung the plank and hit him in the head again. As he staggered back, a small metal object that I had failed to notice fell from his hand. _A knife_ , I realized. _He was going to stab me for a watch._

As he was getting reoriented, I lunged for the knife. The blade felt natural to me as I picked it up. The man stupidly launched himself at me again. This time I was ready.

I redirected his arms up and I plunged the knife into his abdomen.

Over and over again, I kept stabbing. I kept stabbing long after he was dead. By the time I stopped, it was near dawn. My hands were red. For a while, that's the color the world was veiled in.

Red.

 ***Line Break***

I stood sat by the edge of the water afterwards. Near my home. The sun was rising and I could see a ship pulling into port. I had just killed someone and I felt… empty. No… not empty, I was filled with a flurry of emotions from rage to panic but none of them were guilt. I felt nothing after killing my first mortal.

 _I guess keeping count at this point doesn't matter, you're just a murderer,_ the voice told me. I withheld from responding.

As I thought of nothing, I heard footsteps approaching me from behind. I didn't bother to look behind, I just kept my gaze locked on my blood covered body. Then, the person took a seat next to me.

I finally took the effort to look at them. It was a girl. I genuinely thought that I forgot how to breathe for the first time in awhile, this time, because of something not negative.

She had raven hair, a perfect teardrop shaped head with perfect red lips. Her eyes could've been filled with stars. She was wearing a white dress that came down to about mid thighs with a pair of black leggings. She looked to be around my age, 20.

"Who are you?" I asked with a small voice.

"My name is Chaos," she smiled. I stayed silent. "I've been watching you for a while now." Negative thoughts started to run through my mind. _How long?_ "I see that you've suffered and I'm sorry for that." Seeing that I wasn't going to respond, she continued. "I run a particular… _organization_ , that umm, watches over the world. I looked at her trying to remember anything in Greek mythology that could give me facts about her. _She's the creator you dimwit,_ the voice said to me, being helpful for once. My eyes widened.

Chaos seemed to realize that I had figured out who I was. "I'm here to give you the opportunity to join my organization." She turned her head and looked straight at me. "You could help a lot of people, Percy. Maybe even meet people you never thought you could meet." I could see that she genuinely wanted to help. "So," she asked, "Would you be willing to help people? Make a difference?"

I looked back at her, thousands of thoughts running through my head until I settled on one.

"No."

 **AN: So uhh, excuses: procrastination. Anyway, R &R, hope you enjoyed, feel free to leave constructive criticism and PM me.**

 **-Sapphire Zephyr**


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